A Tabletop Roleplaying Games Blog
Est. 2009. After being published by the BSFA and designing a computer game for Battlestar Galactica, I spent years interviewing tabletop celebrities, reviewing products and generally having an opinion on all things gaming. I conceived and co-wrote the Advanced Fighting Fantasy 'Stellar Adventures' RPG and write adventures for the fantasy game, too. It's all good fun.

FARSIGHT GAMES

Friday, 16 March 2018

In my last blog entry I discussed my love of the Dune universe and the fact that I have never been able to run a game with that same sense of intrigue and mysticism. I thought I'd expand on those thoughts a little more and try to make sense of why that is. Bear with me; this is probably more for my own edification than anything else.

I have never owned an official Dune roleplaying game, namely 'Chronicles of the Imperium', so I have never seen an official interpretation of the science fiction and religious elements of Herbert's book in practice. That's a shame in many respects as if I had seen the game I may have had a better understanding of what it was I wanted to do with a Dune game, where I wanted it to go and what kind of story I wanted to tell. However, I couldn't find a gaming group to play that kind of game with. My group was casual and enjoyed having fun with the games - as did I - and even though I tried to surreptitiously sneak games with these grand ideas into the mix they never took off.

I used to think it was a decent game system I required. After all, it was easy for me to have grand ideas of star-spanning adventures, intricate plots and intrigue between the great Houses of the Landsraad, and soul-tearing tales of religious passion and persecution. Would I have run the game on Arrakis, and have the players members of the Fremen, or House Atreides, or even spies for the Harkonnen or the Padishah Emperor? Maybe they could have been simple traders, or smugglers, or perhaps I could have designed a lesser House for them to represent? The scope of Dune is huge and there's plenty that could be done, so all I needed was a game system that could reflect that.

I should mention that my desire to run a Dune game only included the first three books by Frank Herbert, and elements of the universe he created in the following books. I've only read the first two of the Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson books but never continued. I imagine that there is plenty more material to choose from in their books, but they are beyond the scope of what I wanted to do.

At first I went with my standard science fiction options, namely 'Traveler' and 'Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game' (WEG 1st Edition). These are two great games - the Star Wars D6 system being my favourite - and quite easy to create a campaign around. In fact, with a little tweaking the psionics and the Force rules could be modified into something that would suit the Dune universe, and the effects of the Spice could be interpreted by the rules. But, to me, Dune felt more like a science fantasy story, based as it was on feudal houses and mystical prophecies.

So, I looked at standard fantasy systems, mainly 'D&D' and 'Runequest'. I also looked at 'Starfinder', but to be honest the standard 'Pathfinder' game seemed more suited to the setting with some elements of Starfinder included. I came to the conclusion that starship rules weren't really a necessity as space battles weren't the order of the day in the Dune series. D&D was a default option - it was the game that my group played the most - but the leveling put me off as I wanted the players to concentrate on the story and not what their characters could get out of it and how they could improve, which is something that I feel D&D focuses on. With Runequest I found that I had better luck with 'Cthulhu: Dark Ages', what I see as a kind of Runequest-lite. It was quick and easy, and with a little modding I could bring in modern weapons from normal 'Call of Cthulhu' to reflect the weapons in Dune. Pathfinder is good, but I'm moving beyond rules complexity these days and it had the same problems as D&D.

I had choices as far as system was concerned, but I came to the conclusion that no matter how perfect the system was or how well I could adapt it to suit Dune, the real challenge was convincing a gaming group to sit down and play an epic game of intrigue and otherworldly powers.

And that was the real problem, I think. I couldn't force the players into spending their time focusing on a world that they may not have felt the same way about. The general feeling at the table was all about having fun and partaking in crazy adventures, and to ask them to reset their gaming habits to a more serious tone was a bit of an ask. I did try through other games to include a sense of seriousness and drama to test the waters, but inevitably the games reset to the fun factor. My attempts to find a group who were willing to play a Dune game the way I would have liked it to be played were fruitless.

So, I moved on to games that emulated the ideas of Dune but were not Dune; perhaps my players would play a game where they could still have fun but also allow me to introduce these elements into the game to satisfy my own needs?

Firstly, I attempted to create my own game. 'Spirit' was a game set in the League of Seven, seven star systems ruled by the Kerraph Empress Thane Cherin, and was set hundreds of years after a devastating civil war that tore the League apart. Hundreds of other star systems had moved on and created their own civilizations and empires, and the drive of the game was that the League was trying to bring them back into the fold with the promise of advanced technology and, if necessary, violence in the name of their Kerraph Empress, who was descended from a deified person who first created the Clans and the League... oh, I could go on for ages about that. I wrote it up and put it out there for people to play, but it wasn't complete or polished and it was more of a tester to see what people thought.

It never saw much play; I ran a few games using my systems, a D12 system that wasn't great and my own SKETCH system, but I ultimately settled for the D6 system. The games were fine, the feedback was good, but it didn't hit the mark.

So, I decided to read another game of the ilk and that was 'Fading Suns', which is right now being developed by Ulisses North America. It was excellent, the game system was usable and the setting was very close to what I was looking for, with Houses and a pseudo-Medieval culture. Sadly, I never got to play it.

Now I have 'Coriolis: The Third Horizon', but I won't repeat myself here. I talked about that in my last blog post.

So... what did I take away from all of this?

Well, for a start I think I approached the difficulty of running a Dune game the same way I did when I was trying to run Middle-earth games, which I talked about here. I was somewhat elitist in my view on how a Dune game should be played and was most likely rather limiting on options; because I had a definitive vision of what the game should be I didn't take the player's views into account. They may not have been interested in the deeper philosophical elements of the game, but they may have played it with a sense of melodrama that I would have no doubt enjoyed. It's that meeting half-way thing I think I struggled with, the point between getting really involved in a game and simply enjoying it for what it is.

System-wise, I don't think it really bothered me as long as we had a system to use. I don't think I would have enjoyed a crunchy system with hundreds of options as that can sometimes detract from the purpose of the game, but a system that was too light wouldn't have given the PCs much individuality, and detailed characters are something that a Dune game cries out for. I think that's why the D6 system would have worked for me, it's an easy intuitive system with enough detail to have really unique characters.

Actually playing in the Dune setting? Now that I look back on it, I'm not so sure it would have worked as well as I would have wanted. It may have been fun for a few games, but the overarching metaplot of the Houses and CHOAM and the Fremen... the players would have felt that they were playing second fiddle to a much bigger story, and as the fate of the human race had already been decided thanks to Leto II they may have felt that their actions were pointless, with much bigger things hanging over their heads. I get that, and it didn't need to be the case, but once again the vast scale of the setting - and it's fame - would have overshadowed things.

So that just leaves me with 'Dune-but-not-Dune'. I think this is going to be the best way to go. My own 'Spirit' game is always an option but it requires a huge rewrite and a better game system, but it means that the players can do things that will affect the overall story arc which is a much better experience for everybody. If I do use this I'll most likely use the D6 system, primarily the 'Mini Six' system from AntiPaladin 'games.

'Fading Suns' is an excellent choice and I liked the original game, but if I go down this route I'll wait for the new edition from Ulisses North America.

'Coriolis: The Third Horizon' is the game that set me off on this whole thing anyway, the game reminded me of what it was I wanted to do with a Dune-esque setting because of the ethereal Middle Eastern influences on the game setting, which is something I felt was present in Dune. Of all the options I think this will be the one that I end up pursuing as the mystical, intrigue and adventure elements are all there, so it truly is a game that will allow me to meet my players in the middle.

Alternatively, I could keep searching for a group who are as invested in the Dune world as I am. I'm no expert on Dune - far from it - but I feel I would get a lot from running a game such as that. It was what made my Star Wars games of the 1980s/1990s so successful; the entire group were already huge Star Wars fans so their passion for it came out in the games. That's something I'd love to replicate with this.

If you've made it this far then thanks for sticking with me. I think this was more to help me make sense of what I wanted from a Dune game in my head, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

Wednesday, 14 March 2018

Now, this product will get a proper full-on review in the near future, but I felt I needed to share a few things about how this game from Free League Publishing has managed to not only punch me in the face and shout 'LOOK AT ME, I'M BEAUTIFUL!', it's made me think about a level of gaming that I haven't thought about for years.

I'm a huge fan of Dune, Frank Herbert's sprawling epic of feuding worlds, mysticism and cult worship that hasn't been equaled, in my opinion. What always struck me about the story, and this is something I loved about the first three books in the series, was the effect that religion and blind devotion had on some of the characters, not because they had faith in Paul's abilities but the fact that these abilities were demonstrable and therefore quantifiable, giving an entire new level of passion in the beliefs of his followers. It's why I always found the jihad in the books terrifying, not because they were devoted to Muad'Dib and believed in his powers, but because they were actually justified in their beliefs because it was all real. I'm not saying they were right in their crusade - far from it - just that they kind of had a point.

Such was the impact that this had on me as a young man it stayed with me for a very long time. In fact, with the absence of a Dune RPG I could actually get my hands on I tried to emulate it with different systems, or at least find a game that had the same kind of approach. I tried a few different systems and games (quick plug, I had some success with 'Stellar Adventures' but I did write some of that book so I'm biased!) but I couldn't find one that scratched the itch. Not only that, I couldn't find the players to play the game with me as I needed players who were on the same page.

Middle Eastern culture had quite an influence on Dune, I think, with Arabic and Islamic themes that really enhanced the universe that Herbert had created. I loved that; from the feuding houses which felt very Medieval to the sands of Arrakis that felt incredibly Middle Eastern, the themes really stood out.

I ended up letting it go, and instead of trying to game in the world of Dune I decided to try and find a game that emulated aspects of it that I loved.

And that brings me on to Coriolis.

Coriolis wears it's Middle Eastern influences proudly, and rightly so. It even has it's own system of mysticism, with it's fledgling powers and Icons, and the Dark between the Stars. There is true power here and the people of the Third Horizon, with their designs and beliefs shaped after Arabian culture, exist in a world where this power exists, they can pray to it and get results and can exhibit powers that could drive entire nations into a religious fervour.

That's perfect. That's what I'm looking for. It's not the Dune RPG I hankered for, but then I'm not sure a true Dune RPG would ever really work as different people come away from the books with different impressions; some love the feudal warring Houses and the intrigue, some love the environmental references, some like the religious overtones, some love the action and adventure elements. That would make a Dune game difficult. However, Coriolis takes each of those different angles and mixes them all together... well, maybe not so much the environmental side of things. Action/adventure, mystery/exploration, mysticism/intrigue, and to cap it all off there's a metaplot that opens up all kinds of opportunities.

Can you tell that I'm quite excited about this game? Finally I might be able to play in a world that I've thought about since my first attempts at a Dune game, and I'll be able to cater for the different kinds of gamer that wants to sit at my table. I get to explore the effects of faith and belief and my players get to fly around in spaceships and blow stuff up. I think we'll meet somewhere in the middle, and Coriolis - The Third Horizon will facilitate that.

-oOo-

Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a science fiction role playing game set in a remote cluster of star systems called The Third Horizon. It is a place ravaged by conflicts and war, but also home to proud civilisations, both new and old. Here, the so called First Come colonists of old worship the Icons, while the newly arrived Zenithians pursue an aggressive imperialistic agenda through trade and military power.In this game, you will crew a space ship and travel the Horizon. You will explore the ancient ruins of the Portal Builders, undertake missions for the powerful factions and partake in the game of political intrigue on Coriolis station – the centre of power in the Third Horizon. You might even encounter strange beings from the Dark Between the Stars.From the Monolith in the jungles of Kua to the floating temples of Mira, the Horizon is yours to explore. You can be traders, explorers, mercenaries, pilgrims or agents. Whatever your calling is, together you will make your own fate. In the end you might even discover the truth about the mysterious Emissaries and the threat of the Dark Between the Stars.Coriolis – The Third Horizon was awarded the ENnies Judges’ Spotlight 2017 and is produced by the makers of critically acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero (six-time nominee and winner of a Silver ENnie for Best Rules 2015). Features:- Create your unique player character – including skills, talents, gear, and relationships – in mere minutes.- Fight fast and furious battles, praying to the Icons to overcome your enemies.- Build and crew your ownspaceship, to explore the many star systems of the Third Horizon.- Experience thrilling spaceship duels, using a game system that puts all player characters at the heart of the action.- Take part in the intrigue between powerful factions on the majestic space station Coriolis.- Uncover the mysteries of the Third Horizon, a rich tapestry of cultures that have settled the stars.

Sunday, 11 March 2018

The Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortals boxsets were very special to me; the red box Basic was my very first foray into roleplaying games and I held it in very high regard. The art, the layout, the fact that it was so different from anything I had ever played before, and that it was giving me a chance to expand on my love of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks that I had been playing for the previous year.

The first three boxes especially guided me through my first months and years of roleplaying games. I never got to use the Master and Immortal boxes, but it didn't matter as the damage had been done and I was on my path to playing, running, writing and collecting games.

I had a huge RPG collection. I had more than 30 different games and systems of varying quality and some of them had a huge slew of supplements and adventures. WFRP, the WEG Star Wars RPG and Call of Cthulhu especially had dozens of books taking up space on my shelf, and the collection took up a lot of room - and time.

When my son was on his way I made a very simple choice - I had to sell off my collection. I had neither the time or the room to hang on to this 20+ year collection, so I hit Ebay and started the cull.

Some of my games I sold for peanuts, others sold for incredibly high amounts; my original MERP modules and Call of Cthulhu books raked in a lot of cash. In the end, I made enough money to pretty much pay for everything my son needed and the first year or so of his life. The collection turned out to be an investment, and it paid off.

I never intended to sell my BECMI set, but as I was putting a lot of stuff up I got a lot of questions about what else I had and a recurring question was about Basic D&D. So, I checked out some prices.

They were worth a lot. A complete set, two boxes still in shrinkwrap, with all the dice and the wax crayon... I tentatively put it all up for sale. I won't say how much it went for, but I will say that I was stunned.

And that was it. I hung on to some of my books as I honestly couldn't part with them (and I was still using them, to be frank) but my BECMI set was a sale that made me a lot of money, and I miss them a hell of a lot. Just to have them to hand, to read and to enjoy, and to step back in time to the sunrise of my gaming hobby.

I got a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia a few years ago and it's amazing, but it can't replace my BECMI set. That was, and always will be, something special to me.

Friday, 9 March 2018

I was recently gifted an original print of the amazing Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness and it's something that I have not looked at in thirty years. I'm ashamed to say that I never purchased it when it first came out, and now that I have it and I'm looking at it in depth I can see so many different avenues my WFRP games could have taken.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is my favourite game of all time. If I reviewed it fully today it probably wouldn't rank very high as far as mechanics go but that's really not the point of the game at all; in my eyes, the unbalanced, easy to abuse system with it's oh-so clunky magic is a wonderful reflection of the chaotic, unfair nature of the world it is set in.

The game came into my life when I was about 17 or 18 years old. I'd been roleplaying for about four years and up until that point I had only experienced the high fantasy side of gaming; Dungeons & Dragons. Heroic deeds, flashing swords and a Hollywood realisation of the European Middle-ages kept me entertained, and the only flash of slight insanity I had experienced was through the playful Fighting Fantasy world and some Call of Cthulhu.

So, when WFRP hit it was amazing timing. I had reached my angsty, nihilistic teenager phase and, coming out of education into a country seething with unemployment, I had nothing. The cover and the content of the WFRP game perfectly reflected my mood and the sheer creativity - this pseudo-historical insanity with Monty Python-esque dark humour and a huge dose of British cynicism - really hit home.

Britain at the time was going through a huge change. This post-punk era seemed unreal and the nation, still under Thatcher, sometimes felt like it was unravelling. The British attitude was somewhat 'yes, it's all quite shit but soldier on' and WFRP seemed to capture all of those elements. The dark, grim world of perilous adventure with it's twisted humans, punkrock dwarves and social elite elves was an amazing twist on the worlds I was used to, with noble heroes and justified slaughter. Now, here was a world where everyone, from Emperor to beggar, was corruptible, damaged and on the edge of insanity. Games were dark, bleak, and dangerous, and the first few games were one of fear and concern as your worries weren't about getting enough gold to buy that new magic sword, but if you would survive the next day without being gutted, going insane or dying from some horrendous disease.

It was fantastic.

The rulebook was dripping atmosphere and it was so complete that it was all you needed to run games for years. However, alongside this incredible game was the campaign 'The Enemy Within', a sprawling adventure about corruption, madness, cultists and sheer bloody carnage. 'The Enemy Within' is one of the campaigns that I feel all gamers thinking of designing their own campaign should read to see how it's done. It not only tells an amazing story but it fills out the Old World wonderfully.

A second edition came along and, as much as I enjoyed it and even preferred the rules, it never captured the essence of WFRP for me. The third edition came and it was very well designed and a good game to play, but it lacked longevity for my preferences. Even Zweihander, with all the obvious love and attention the writers put in to the game, couldn't unseat my favoured edition. I always end up returning to first edition, partly for nostalgia but mostly because the atmosphere the books evoked was just all-encompassing, and really helped me set the tone of the games I designed.

WFRP will always be my favourite game. It's not my favourite gaming system, but the rules and the setting sit so well together - and the game itself came along at just the right time for me - it's going to be nigh on impossible to unseat it from that lofty pedestal that I've put it on.

Tuesday, 6 March 2018

I'll be honest with you - I don't usually look into a character's pre-game history that deeply. When I create a character the personality forms as the stats are created, even more so if I'm rolling randomly, but that's about as much character detail as I like to go into. All I know is that my character will be going on some highjinks adventures (it's why I'm playing the game, after all) and for that initial game I need a reason to get involved. More often than not he'll be looking to take the plunge to improve his lot in life (ie 'looking for fortune and glory').

It honestly depends on the type of game I'm playing - most of my fantasy characters are looking for fame and gold, but my MechWarrior character was a strong Davion special forces soldier who gave his oath to his house, my Golden Heroes character wanted to fight the good fight, my Shadowrun character wanted to haul himself out of the gutter.

In general, though, I like to start my character off with a simple, regular goal so that I don't have to think about who he is, what he's like and why he's doing it. In those first few games I'm looking for some plain, unmoulded clay. As the games go on he develops and the character grows. Depending on what happens to him in the those first few adventures, probably the first few adventures he's ever had, will determine the sort of person he becomes. Up until then he could have been a simple, unassuming person who was just plain nice. After eight games trapped in the plague-riven dungeon of Hell he could turn into a cynical backstabber who just wants to live, or after a few games pushing back the tides of evil he could be a flag-waving do-gooder who fights for the honour and safety of the good people of the land. I honestly won't know until the games have been played out.

For that inital jaunt the majority of my new characters start out somewhat selfish and then maybe find their altruistic tendencies, depending on the game the GM runs. It's not the only choice - and the majority of my players like to detail their backgrounds and dig deep to find their reasons and that's fine - but it's a way of getting initially involved that works best for me because I like my character development to happen during gameplay.

Thursday, 1 March 2018

One of my biggest failings as a GM when I first started out running games was the fact that I felt, as the controller of the game, I not only had control over the direction the game took but I also had control over the fate and the even the decisions of the players.

I think this was borne out of two things; Firstly, I felt that as I was in charge and I had designed the story of the game then the game should progress as I saw fit. Secondly, I felt that the players were there to be entertained by me and so it was up to me to talk them through something that I thought they would find entertaining. It was both a misconception and a conceit, and my first games suffered terribly for it.

This approach to GMing stripped away any control the players may have had, or even wanted. I didn’t simply railroad them, I forced them onto the train and strapped them to the seats. I was literally narrating a story, telling them what was happening and in some cases what they were doing, and I only stopped and asked for their input at certain points, such as when a fight was about to take place or a situation/puzzle needed to be solved. Looking back on it now I can’t even fathom why it is I never noticed the looks of sheer boredom on the faces of the players. It’s actually embarrassing to remember it. I was so wrapped up in the powers that I had been given - or that I had granted to myself – I didn’t even realise that players were the other 50% of the game. I was the GM and I had The Power! I can simply put this down to inexperience but it amazed me, years later, when I took part in games where the apparently experienced GM was running the games in exactly the same vein. I played in groups where this way of gaming was the norm for the GM and the players sat back and let the GM go on and on and on. It was incredibly strange to experience, especially since I already knew these people and didn’t expect it from them.

GMs do not have The Power in the literal sense. They have the reins but they don’t have full control of the bolting horse. In fact, if anyone has The Power it’s the players, as it’s their decisions and actions that drive the game forward and result in an enjoyable fulfilling experience for everyone. It took me a while to realise that and now I feel my games are better for it.

Monday, 26 February 2018

Has it really been almost 9 years since I created the 'Those Dark Places' RPG playtest document? There are times when I find certain design documents and I think that it's something I put on hold for a short while, but then I see the date on it and I'm shocked by how much time has actually passed.

The ODDS System back then was still a single die, a D20, but it was a little flat and stretched out as I tried to drag as much as I could out of it to make it a fully-fledged and detailed game. The document went out and I had a little feedback on it, but it never really amounted to much and my feeling was that there was no need for another RPG on the market. I also thought that my chosen genre - the dark sci-fi of the 1970s and 1980s such as Alien and Outland - was, perhaps, a little too niche and the dark, grimy and industrial future was a stark contrast to the bright and shiny i-future we were actually in. I didn't think people would go for it.

But, as the computer game ALIEN: Isolation proved to me, that wasn't the case. It could work, and that genre had an audience.

Now that I've created a new version of the system, and it's a lot simpler and allows for much more freeform gaming, there's a whole lot more I can do with it. The new version of ODDS as featured in 'To The Stars, Stellar Cadets!' (see the free download image in the right-hand column) is quick and simple, and the extra rules in the free adventures add options for much more action-orientated games. It was designed specifically for pulp adventures.

My next project for ODDS is a game light years away from that golden age of derring-do. I think 'Those Dark Places' is a good enough title for it and it'd be interesting to try and incorporate some of the themes I was trying to emulate in the original game. I'll have to create art for it, though, and spend more time in laying it out so this will be a totally different beast to my free game.

Friday, 23 February 2018

With the release of another six Fighting Fantasy gamebooks coming up - including the new title 'The Gates of Death' by Charlie Higson - it's a great time to be a Fighting Fantasy fan.

I'm writing adventures for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy roleplaying game but it was the original gamebooks that got me my start in the tabletop hobby.

I've told this story before, but I thought I'd share it again.

'It's 1983. My little sister is still at primary school and I've not long started secondary school. She comes home one night with a small pamphlet filled with small images of children's books; the Puffin Book Club, made available to schools. She wants to know if anyone wants anything as she is going to purchase a book or two.So, I'm scouring these book images for anything that seems even slightly quirky when my roving eyes fall on the image of some kind of cat/wolf beast with black fur and red eyes, at the head of a long line of beasts all exiting a castle as bat-winged creatures soar through a blood-red sky. It's 'The Citadel of Chaos', book two of the Fighting Fantasy series, and I'm intrigued. An original fighting fantasy adventure in which YOU are the hero? Whatever could this mean? So, bang goes a week's pocket money and the book is ordered. Several days later, I sit down on a rainy Saturday afternoon to read it and I'm perplexed by these scores, dice and apparent rules. After raiding the tattered Monopoly box for two six-sided dice I tentatively have a first go at the book.I don't remember how well I did, but I do remember missing my tea as I was totally absorbed by the book. I went to bed late and arose early the next Sunday morning. At school the following Monday I gushed to classmates about this book, how amazing it was and how it allowed you to take part in and even decide the outcome of a story. I was hooked, and after I located a copy of 'The Warlock of Firetop Mountain' I began to collect the books in earnest. I loved reading and my over-active imagination loved adventures - how could it get any better than this?'

And that was that - my long-term love affair with Fighting Fantasy had begun.

Over the years the gamebooks gave me a slice of everything - fantasy, science fiction, superheroes, post apocalypse - but it was always the world of Titan, and in particular the continent of Allansia, that I enjoyed the most. The world is rich, imaginative and quite insane. For every standard fantasy trope there's something much more incredible, with locations and adventures that really bring the world to life. When I was a kid I always imagined that each adventure book was the continuing adventures of my own character in the world, so I created a character that I would use over and over again as each new book came out. His name was Bilks Magra, and with SKILL 10, STAMINA 18 and LUCK 10 he wasn't a bad adventurer although he met his doom quite a few times, but with the spell FIP (Finger In Page) and a fudged roll or two he was quite the hero. I didn't complete all the books but it was all about the experience for me.

Of course, I grew up. My Fighting Fantasy books stayed with me and the collection slowed to a halt in the early 1990s. Over the years I picked up the odd book, and I bought some of the re-releases from Wizard, and now I'm buying them all again from Scholastic for both my collection and my son.

Even at the ripe old age of forty(harrrummpph) I enjoy the books even though they were written for children, and the world is still vibrant and a lot of fun. the Sorcery! series showed me that there could be a more involved side to the games, and the RPG has allowed me to flex my own creativity both as a GM and as a writer and artist. No doubt I changed my views and opinions of the world to suit my perceptions and attitudes as I get older, regarding it as somehow a bit more grown up than it appeared to be; indeed, the world is filled with horrors and dangers, and more than once a gruesome death against a fearsome creature from the Pit made it feel a lot more grown-up and mature, but that just tells me that it's a book that can be enjoyed by all ages.

So here we are again, 36 years later, with the books being re-released and a whole new book on the horizon. Fighting Fantasy is in books, computer games, audio dramas, comics and RPGs. The name is still out there. I'm sure there are other mediums it can cover - the board game market is especially huge at the moment and a new and innovative Fighting Fantasy game would do well - and I'd love to see more novels based on Titan with new characters and adventures, but I'll always rely on my gamebooks to give me that thrill and I hope kids of all ages get the same amount of fun and inspiration from them as I did.

Wednesday, 21 February 2018

I was browsing Amazon looking for a Japanese language copy of Temple of Terror that I saw on there the other day - as you do - and suddenly these covers jumped out at me from the search page.

Are these the finished covers or the holding images? I have no idea. It's quite a leap from the colourful six books that came out last year. I checked out Scholastic's website and I can't see anything on there about them.

They've got this 1930s art deco thing going on and... well, I kind of like them. What do you think?

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Shades of Vengeance is a roleplaying games company that has already given us the ERA games, such as the sci-fi Era: The Consortium and the post apocalyptic Era: Survival. Their newest game is Era: The Empowered, a game of superheroes and the world they inhabit, and - as of this blog post - it's running on Kickstarter now.

I had a chat with Ed Jowett of Shades of Vengeance about the new game.

Welcome to Farsight Blogger, Ed! Tell us something about your gaming history; how did you get into the hobby, and how did you get into the business side of things?

Thanks very much!

I had played before, but I really got into the hobby when I went to university! I joined the indoor gaming society and quickly became one of the regular GMs in the mix. I ran a lot of Paranoia in those days, along with various other things, from Firefly to World of Darkness. There's a tradition at Durham University in the society that we run a 24-hour game each year. 6 GMs create a setting and world, along with a campaign to explore it. The previous year had been fantasy so it was decided to be Sci-Fi.

I worked very hard on that setting, creating two types of alien race, complete with weaknesses, and fleshing out the majority of the setting from the concept of "Firefly", which was where it started. The game went very well, and I stopped playing for several years after that, because I started working.

About a year later, I was really missing it, so I got a group of friends and family together and revisited that campaign. It went extraordinarily well, and my brother asked me to write down the rules so he could run the next campaign.

That really kicked things off, because I spoke with a friend in Canada about it, showed him what I'd written, and he convinced me to publish it.

The rest is history: I've now published 7 RPG game lines (several of which has expansions), comics, card games and more - 38 products in total, so far!

Your newest project is Era: The Empowered, a superhero roleplaying game. Tell us more about the game and the setting.

Era: The Empowered is a special kind of superhero game.

It's based around a timeline which contains the various stages of a superhero world - from being the very first superheroes the world has seen to forming groups like the Avengers, to recruiting sidekicks and a more "Young Justice" feel, to facing extra-terrestrial threats on a scale unimagined by even the most pessimistic individual. You can encounter the troops of Atlantis, face down the Assassins Guild, or anything else you're used to in terms of the stories which we're able to experience through movies, tv series and animated styles in recent years.

In this game, you choose the time period you want to play in, meaning it's every kind of superhero game in one - you don't need to homebrew settings to play something else.

The game itself is based on our critically acclaimed Era d10 Rule Set with some special modifications to allow for superpowers. You can build any superpower you like in this system, using our "power tree" method, and ensure that everyone is balanced. You can also, if you want to add more powers, give your character a second or third power tree!

How did this come about, and what was the attraction to the superhero genre?

I've loved the superhero genre for years, but I've also been working with Johnathan Lewis since I started creating games. He's worked in the comic industry for some time and Era: The Empowered was actually the game I had planned for development second, once Era: The Consortium was complete. We worked together on the storyline, him from the storytelling perspective and me from the universe creation angle.

Back then, I did create the Rulebook Primer, which offered the rules but no equipment. Although I had the mechanics sorted out in my mind, I felt I needed to playtest creation a lot more. Other projects got in the way sometimes, but I never stopped working on Era: The Empowered. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a big inspiration to me on this project - it's the kind of storytelling I aspire to!

I'm happy to have finally got to the point where completing the Core Rulebook is in sight, although there's much more to come!

What makes this superhero game different from the others available?

As I explained earlier, the timeline approach to the history allows people to play any kind of superhero game they like. Most games give you a specific scenario - you're the first hero, or you're the third generation of heroes in a world which has become used to them.

This game doesn't: it gives you the chance to play any or all of these types of setting, by following with a timeline from the moment of emergence to the point where the world looks like it's about to end.

The story actually goes on beyond that, into parallel universes, but that's a tale for another book...!

You've also got fully illustrated comics available. How do these tie into the game?

The comics describe adventures of some of the major characters in the Empowered universe.

We've chosen these characters because they are the ones we offer for play in the example sessions we run, as well as being major figures in the general storyline. In short, they expand the universe further through a medium which suits superheroes nicely!

How will the game be supported in the future? Can we expect to see sourcebooks, adventures and campaigns?

Absolutely! In fact, we've already been supporting it with sessions on our Patreon.

As I indicated earlier, the Core Rulebook provides a timeline, but it doesn't finish the story entirely. In the best comic traditions, there is an ending, but things may happen beyond that!

I've also set up the first Source Book as a stretch goal - Golden Age Heroes! The slightly cheesy feel from the 60's with colourful characters and terrible puns will be upon us if we reach that!

What else do you have in the works? What else can we expect to see from Shades of Vengeance?

I have loads more in development, as always.

You can expect to see our first licensed property this year - the Battlecruiser Alamo series of books by Richard Tongue is being brought to life through the Era d10 Rule Set. We're also working on several more large games, not least Era: The Chosen, our latest entry for the era universe, which we expect to release in October!

It's a busy time for us, but we're rising to the challenge as we find more and more people who are interested in our work. I can't say how inspiring it is!

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

That awkward moment when you realise that the new guy you invited to the game isn’t a nice bloke at all. In fact, he’s a nasty piece of work.

I’m going back to the late 1990s, here, and I was at the height of a huge Warhammer FRP campaign. It had begun with a single player, then another player who was a friend of mine had joined and he suggested I allow a gamer he knew from university to join as he was looking for an epic game. Without asking any more about this person I said yes, he came along, we quickly talked him through the game and helped him with a PC, and we got stuck in.

The game started to go wrong very, very quickly. This new player – I’ll call him Roger – didn’t seem to care about what other people thought of him. This first became apparent with his foul mouth, eating habits and uncomfortable sense of humour. I’ve talked before about how certain jokes at the table make me feel uncomfortable, and this guy had an entire plethora of bad, inappropriate jokes to share, primarily of a sexual nature. In the game he was even worse. First and foremost he was rude. A comment he made that sticks in my head was, ‘If you do that then you’re a f***ing idiot’, in response to another player’s idea. ‘Is your PC saying that?’ I asked. ‘No’, he said, ‘I’m saying that.’ And it was pretty much downhill from there.

If things didn’t go his way he would get angry – I mean, spitting angry. More than once Roger launched his dice across the room or snapped a pencil. In one instance he jumped up and kicked over a chair as he stormed out to the bathroom. He’d let other players explain their actions before snorting through his nose or berating them, and if anyone, and I mean anyone, disagreed with a plan of his, his first words were, ‘What’s your problem?’ as if the player was insulting his parentage. I never thought for an instant it would ever become physical – I’ll save that story for another blog entry – as he was all piss and wind, but he was highly offensive and spent all his time complaining or getting upset. He had no interest in roleplaying and took great delight in killing NPCs in a variety of ways, whether they deserved it or not.

I noticed, after this single session, that the guy who introduced him to my game suddenly couldn’t make it anymore. I found out he was playing in another game on another night, and I knew that Roger had been in that group, so I got the impression that he’d been dumped on us to rid the other group of his presence, like they’d found him another game to play in so that they could get rid of him. He was bloody obnoxious and I can fully understand why they wanted shot of him. I hoped things would improve in the second session but they didn’t. After the second session I declared I was taking a break and that I’d be in touch when the games began again, and he was fine with that. Of course, I never got in touch and I never heard from Roger again.

What amazed me the most was the fact that he acted this way in front of complete strangers from the very first minute he met them and thought it was okay. That’s some serious social dysfunction, I have no qualms in saying that, and I can only assume that he had very few interpersonal skills. What am I saying, there’s nothing to assume; he had no social skills at all. I guess he was in his early twenties, and to throw such tantrums and talk in such a way, well… it’s simply not acceptable. I have no idea what he thought he was getting out of the game acting this way.

These days I screen potential new gamers for two reasons; One, to avoid this kind of thing ever again and two, it’s nice to meet people outside the game first so that you can get to know them as non-gamers. It’s a simple meetup at a pub or cafe, a few drinks and a chat and we can get to know each other as a gaming group before we get into the game proper. I’m not being rude meeting up with people like this, I think it’s only fair, to them and to me. What if they don’t like the way I or my group do things? It’s an opportunity to find out if you all click without going through the trauma of being involved with a disastrous game and is the best thing for everyone.

That’s what I should have done with Roger. It would have certainly saved me the pain of having to go through those games, that for sure.

Sunday, 11 February 2018

'6 for 20' - This phrase is personal to me as I use it to refer to games that, as far as I’m concerned, completely waste my time. If I feel that I’ve wasted my effort in preparation or playing I’ll call the event a ‘6 for 20’.

The phrase came about after being asked to take part in a Rolemaster game. I’d had some experience with MERP so I was interested, but the GM running the game went over every single tiny detail of character creation. In the end, my PC took 6 hours to create. Yes, you read that right - 6 hours. Once the game started, two weeks later, my PC was killed in the first 20 minutes of the game by being backstabbed by the GMs NPC assassin, the very first roll of the game.

One lucky critical roll and I’m dead. 6 hours of work for 20 minutes of gameplay. As it turned out I had a lucky escape as the rest of the game turned out to be a railroad nightmare, so when asked to create another PC for the next game I politely declined.

When I design and run a game I like to think that everyone is catered for and at no point anyone’s time is being wasted. I hate it when I attend a game as a player and spend most of it staring blankly at my character sheet for lack of anything else to do. Most of the time these situations arise because:

1 – The GM has favourites at the gaming table and spends the majority of his time attending to them.

2 – The GM has put no thought into the game and is running a series of encounters. I’ve been through an ‘alphabet of monsters’ game and I hated every minute of it.

3 – The GM is railroading the players, using the game to show off his acting, narration and creative skills. If I wanted to watch a show I’d go to the theatre.

4 – The GM simply does not have any creativity when it comes to designing games and one feels much like the other.

5 – The GM is running a published scenario and is spending time reading the text and going over every detail before involving the players. Plenty of times I’ve been part of a group who has sat back for ten minutes whilst the GM prepares the next part of the adventure and reads the scenario book.

6 – The GM simply isn’t in the mood but thinks he’ll be letting down the players if he doesn’t run a game, no matter how half-hearted the game is. Trust me on this as I’m horribly guilty of this myself – if you don’t feel like it, don’t do it. You’ll be doing everyone a favour. Running a game with no passion communicates that lack of heart to the players and you’ll be in real danger of derailing the ongoing campaign completely by quelling player enthusiasm.

7 – It’s the players that have no heart for the game. No matter what the GM puts into the games the players don’t respond, and their decisions are communicated with disinterested tones and bored faces.

The first thing the GM does, of course, is try to figure out why it is they’re bored by looking at himself and how he’s running the game, but sometimes the players may just feel that way about the game. This lack of interest rubs off on the GM who feels his work has been wasted and then he, too, becomes depressed about the whole game. It only really takes one person to make a game a ‘6 for 20’ experience. A GMs lack of interest steals the game by the very nature of the GMs involvement but even a single player, even in a large group, can affect the dynamic and reduce a gamer’s enthusiasm to pretty much nothing. While everyone, especially the GM, is trying to figure out why you don’t want to get involved with the game they’ll forget that they’re supposed to be playing the game in the first place.

The answer is quite simple. You either get yourself in the mood for the game and try really hard not to disrupt it – after all, most groups have a regular ‘game night’ so you should be in the mood when that night comes around – or you simply don’t go. If you’re not in the mood, or if you’re really not enjoying the game for some reason, then don’t make it worse for yourself or the group by attending. Make your excuses beforehand, or just be honest and say ‘This game isn’t really for me’ and let the GM know why and also what it is you’d like to play. It’s a game at the end of the day, a hobby, a pastime – turning up is not a legally binding contractual obligation.

Saturday, 10 February 2018

Cubicle 7 are still working on the new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - which I'm super excited about, of course, as it's my favourite roleplaying game ever and I can't wait to see what they do with it - so in the meantime they're releasing PDFs of the original Warhammer FRP campaigns for the first edition of the game.

As with the other releases, The Enemy Within Campaign: Power Behind the Throne isn't just a starightforward scan and publish. They've carefully scanned every page to create a PDF that maintains the appearance of the original, as well as being bookmarked for ease of reference.

It's an amazing adventure and I can't wait to get my teeth into it. Again.

Refugees fleeing town, ridiculous taxes, priests of Ulric and Sigmar fighting in the streets, and rumours of beasts in the sewers – something is very wrong in the City of Middenheim. In the confusion of the city’s carnival, only the cunning and the brave will be able to cut away a web of conspiracy and aristocrats with secrets to hide, to uncover the hand behind a plot to control the city itself. Or there will be death, and hell to pay for it.A small Reikland village is savagely attacked, and the hand of Chaos tightens around the greatest City State in the Empire. The adventurers face their greatest challenge yet as they find themselves in a net of violence, deceit and betrayal. They must use diplomacy and negotiation as well their weapons and magic to work out what is threatening the city – and who or what is behind it all. But they must be vigilant: the minions of Chaos will stop at nothing to destroy those who oppose them.Power behind the Throne is the third adventure in the epic The Enemy Within campaign, set in the city of Middenheim (as described in Middenheim: City of Chaos). It comes complete with maps and hand-outs, plus reference notes on 22 major NPCs, and also contains details of carnival events for adventurers to enjoys, from aristocratic garden parties to vicious minotaur fights. It can be played as a stand-alone adventure.This edition of Power Behind the Throne includes ‘Carrion Up the Reik’, a prologue to the main adventure, and an additional chapter of the Enemy Within campaign, which adds background, challenge and depth to this classic Warhammer FRP supplement.This PDF reissues the Hogshead Publishing Edition of the Power Behind the Throne book. We’ve painstakingly scanned every page, and created a PDF that maintains the appearance of the original. This does make for a slightly larger file than we’d normally produce, but on this occasion, we think it’s worth it for all the great First Edition feel! The PDF is also bookmarked for ease of reference.

Thursday, 8 February 2018

It's been a stellar few years for Free League Publishing - Fria Ligan in Swedish - and I caught up with CEO Tomas Härenstam to find out more.Hello Tomas, and welcome to Farsight Blogger! I always ask this of all my interviewees; what got you involved in the wonderful world of tabletop roleplaying games?

I got my first RPG - the Swedish "Mutant" - as a birthday gift from my dad in 1985 when I turned 11. I think neither he nor I had any idea what it was. I sometimes wonder what he would think today about the fact that RPGs are now a major part of my life, 33 years later!

With all the games on the market, what do you yourself enjoy playing the most? There’s a lot going on with Free League Publishing at the moment, so do you even get time to play?

It's hard to find the time, but I really feel it's important to play RPGs, and not only playtesting our own games. I have played a lot of indie games in the last few years, but right now I'm starting up a campaign in 1st Edition Twilight: 2000.

Free League Publishing has made a huge impact on the roleplaying game scene this last few years; did you see this popularity coming when you started in the business, or did it come as something of a surprise?

Well yes, it has been a very welcome surprise! Of course we knew that we were making high-quality games, but we had no idea beforehand what kind of impact we would make on the international market. It's been amazing!

You’ve got some excellent award-winning games out, and they’re all different genres and styles. Tales of the Loop stormed the 2017 ENnies, Mutant: Year Zero enjoyed its own list of achievements and Coriolis – The Third Horizon has received some excellent reviews. Do you intend to release further support material for these games, such as campaigns and adventures? What do you have in the works for your existing products?

Absolutely! All of our games are, and will continue to be, supported by a line of expansions and modules. Some examples:

Mutant: Year Zero: The robot expansion Mechatron is next up, it will been sent to print in a few weeks and released in the spring.

Coriolis: The epic Emissary Lost campaign moduel will be released in the summer.

Tales from the Loop RPG: First in line is an expansion based on Simon Stålenhag’s Things from the
Flood artbook. It expands the game into the 1990s and lets you play a little older characters in the upper teens rather than the lower teens.

The movie-like trailers you produced for Mutant: Year Zero are outstanding. How did these come about and what was involved in getting them made? Will we see any more for the other products?

The particular trailer you mention was a cooperation between us and a team of animators we know. We generally can't afford to make trailers like that, but have had some great trailers later as well I think, among the Kickstarter video for Forbidden Lands and The Electric State artbook.

Your newest game is Forbidden Lands, and it’s already had an incredibly successful run on Kickstarter. What is the game about?

Forbidden Lands is a new take on classic fantasy roleplaying. It is an open-world survival tabletop RPG where the player characters are not heroes sent on missions dictated by others - instead, they are raiders and rogues bent on making their own mark on a cursed world. They will discover lost tombs, fight terrible monsters, wander the wild lands and, if they live long enough, build their own stronghold to defend.

There’s a lot of fantasy RPGs out there, so what do you think Forbidden Lands will bring to the table? What makes it different?

I think it's the perfect blend between old school and new school fantasy gaming. It's truly built to let the players explore the world the way they like, while still offering an epic, overarching campaign experience. This modular approach to campaign play is unique and very much a Free League trademark. And the art and graphic design is awesome!

You’re using the same rules from Mutant: Year Zero and Tales from the Loop. What changes and additions have you had to make to the mechanics make it work for Forbidden Lands?

There is an Alpha of the game recently released to all backers, including almost the complete rules.

The core rules are closer to Mutant: Year Zero than our other games, but there are significant changes:

Talents are now tiered, allowing greater customization and improvement options.

The system for melee combat has been expanded, making swordplay a core feature of the game.

The system for exploring the map is based on Mutant: Year Zero, but it is developed further and has rules for pathfinding, making, camp, hunting, foraging, etc.

There is a system for random encounter where each encounter is a mini-scenario, not just “D6 orcs”.

There’s a system for building your own stronghold, a little similar to the Ark in Mutant: Year Zero but different in several aspects.

There’s magic!

What kind of support can the game expect after publication? What kind of books do you plan to release to help the game along?

There will be a big campaign book, called Raven's Purge, released alongside the main game, and after that, we are planning a range of expansions, each expanding the game map in a particular direction with a complete new map to place alongside the original. To the north, there will be an arctic landscape, to the east, there is a huge archipelago, etc. Each expansion will include a complete campaign.

What else can we expect to see from Free League Publishing in the future?

Lots of cool stuff! Some things we need to keep under wraps for a while longer, but stay tuned!

Monday, 5 February 2018

It's been a while since I last spoke to author Jonathan Green, and back then we were anticipating the release of 'You Are The Hero', the first volume of his history of Fighting Fantasy.

Since then he's written a sequel to the book and released other things besides so I thought it'd be nice to catch up Jonathan to see what else he has in store, and to find out more about his upcoming gamebook 'Neverland - Here Be Monsters!'.

Hello again, Jonathan! It’s been a busy few years for you; the ‘You Are The Hero’ books, ‘Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland’, ‘The Wicked Wizard of Oz’, and now ‘Neverland - Here Be Monsters!’, coupled with Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 and all other manner of stories and work. How on earth do you juggle it all?

With great difficulty! I also have a conventional part-time job and children to get to school, or Guides, or wherever. I always have four or five projects on the go at once, with usually one that demands most of my time at any one time.

I write in the morning, go to work in the afternoon, and then write in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays too!

About ‘Neverland - Here Be Monsters!’. What made you want to twist the original J. M. Barrie stories into this mash-up with monsters and pirates and dinosaurs?

I’m not sure really, but it was an idea that had been percolating for a while. I had wanted to write a gamebook in which Blackbeard the pirate went to Skull Island (as seen in Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’), but when I started writing the ACE Gamebook series it seemed like a good idea to transfer the adventure to Neverland and make the pirate Captain Hook. I’ve never been a fan of Peter Pan, but everything’s better with dinosaurs… right?

What can we expect to see in the pages of the book? What can you share regarding the plot and the system you’re going to use?

With each ACE Gamebook I’ve always made some advancements. ‘Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland’ introduced the ACE ruleset, ‘The Wicked Wizard of Oz’ introduced the RPG element of playing as different characters, and ‘NEVERLAND – Here Be Monsters!’ will add steeds to the mix.

The adventure follows the basic plot of ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ but with elements of ‘The Lost World’ thrown in.

You seem to enjoy playing with the classics, as seen with ‘Neverland’ and the previous books ‘Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland’ and ‘The Wicked Wizard of Oz’. Do you have your sights set on any other properties?

Yes, plenty, but nothing I want to reveal just yet. ;-)

That said, it’s probably about time I got round to writing ‘Beowulf Beastslayer’. :-D

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 was a huge success. What did you do differently with the second convention, and are there plans for another one?

I asked for feedback from guests and attendees of the first one. People seemed to like pretty much everything about the con itself, but they said that the venue was too small, there wasn’t enough time to game, and food with either too expensive or almost non-existent.

So, we moved to a larger venue, there was much greater variety of food at an affordable price, and the day itself was much longer. We even had a pub quiz the night before to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK, in memory of ‘Freeway Fighter’ illustrator Kevin Bulmer.

I would like to organise another event to mark the 40th anniversary in 2022, but I think we could also fit another in before then. It just depends on us having something new to bring to the event, but by then Charlie Higson’s ‘The Gates of Death’ will have been published.

What was your personal favourite part of Fighting Fantasy Fest 2?

Being greeted by Iain McCaig as if we were long lost friends (when we were only just meeting for the first time), meeting Charlie Higson, and just seeing everyone have such a great time. 

You released ‘You Are The Hero Part 2’ at the convention. The first book was an excellent view on the history, world and fandom of Fighting Fantasy, so what did you include that was new for this volume?

Since Part 1 was published, I had managed to track down more of the creators, or they had been in touch with me, so I could interview them. There had also been developments with the ‘Freeway Fighter’ comic, ‘The Trolltooth Wars’ graphic novel, and Scholastic publishing the series for a new generation with a new title – ‘The Port of Peril’ – by Ian Livingstone.

I was also able to expand on what the fans had been doing in the interim.

Is there enough material for a third instalment?

I expect there will be, I have some notes made already, but I’m also wondering about re-editing and revising Parts 1 and 2 into one volume, with new material included.

I’m also keen to write a history of non-Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and have an outline already prepared.

Now that Scholastic are printing old and new Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, do you have any plans to pen another adventure for the series?

It all depends on whether they ask me to or not. I have one idea in particular that I’m keen to explore.

What else are you working on at the moment? What can we expect to see from the mind of Jonathan Green in the future?

At the moment I’m working on ‘NEVERLAND – Here Be Monsters!’, but I’m also writing more Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) stories – the first one, ‘The Haunted Man’, came out in time for Christmas – and I’m planning my next Kickstarter. I just don’t know yet whether it’s going to be for a new horror anthology or a card game.

The Floating Dungeon of Varrak Aslur available now!

AFF Stellar Adventures available now!

Download a FREE roleplaying game!

A simple single D6-powered sci-fi RPG set in the golden age of pulp adventures

About Jonathan Hicks

I've been gaming since 1983 after I experienced the splendour that is Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and Basic D&D. I have played in hundreds of games, mainly as GM, and experienced dozens of gaming systems over pretty much every genre, with the odd boardgame and wargame thrown in, too. I do like to game.

You can also keep up to date by entering your email below

Twitter Feed

Facebook Page

Contributor to RPG.net

Gaming Editor at Fantha Tracks

Collecting Star Wars news and fan interactions from across the planet.

COPYRIGHT and USE OF MATERIAL

All original content on this blog (c) Jonathan Hicks/Farsight Blogger. None of the original material on this blog may be reproduced for financial purposes without permission.

If you'd like to use the material on your own blog or website then by all means do so - you can copy and paste the article, but be sure to credit Farsight Blogger for the content, link back to this blog and send me a message to let me know you've done it. See the Creative Commons license below.